secretary of defense
Armed forces head
The secretary of defense is the head of a country's military department, responsible for defense policy and overseeing armed forces.
In the United States, the Secretary of Defense leads the Department of Defense, advises the president on military matters, and is a member of the Cabinet and National Security Council: The secretary of defense briefed Congress on troop deployments.
- pentagonFive-sided closed figure
- militaryArmed forces collectively
- cabinetEnclosed storage furniture
- warfareArmed conflict between groups
- troop deploymentStationing soldiers operationally
commander · troops · drone strikes · national security · nuclear codes · classified intel · armed forces · chain of command · department · briefing · strategy · war powers · appointment · civilian · press briefing · intelligence · security clearance · weapons
- U.S. MilitaryArmy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, Pentagon
- officialsofficial, officials, bailiff, bureaucrat, congressman
- presidencyOval Office, president, Washington, executive branch, veto
- Federal Officialscabinet member, attorney general, vice president, chief of staff, national security advisor
- military leadershipgeneral, command, admiral, commander, chief of staff
secretary of defensegeneral
Widespread, not specialized
military commander · four-star general · field marshal · five-star general · commandant
secretary, defense, secretaries, secretarial, secretariat, defend, defenses, defensive, defensively